Paula Patton Tears Up Talking About Her New Film’s Impact On Divorce

We’ve seen little of Paula Patton since filing for divorce from Robin Thicke in March 2015. The couple went through it publicly, after his many indiscretions— that included cheating and excessive drug use.

But now the 40-year-old is back, with a new body, mindset, and film called Warcraft. She spoke to a room filled with journalists in a press conference for the film this week, touching upon how the big-budgeted film changed her perspective on life.

“I was driving in the car with a friend and I remember we were doing all these makeup tests for this role and I was scared to death,” Patton said, wiping away tears as reported by MadameNoire.

“I looked crazy. And I was in this bathroom like ‘Oh my God, I don’t know. I don’t know.’ And she was like, ‘Girl, either you go in or not. Either go 100 or don’t!’ I’ll never forget the way she encouraged me to do this role, because it scared me. I was doing two-a-day workouts at one point. I was hungry. I was going through emotional stuff in my personal life and now I’m a creature? What does that mean? Where has my career gone? I was so confused. And then when I embraced it, it was like giving yourself over to something. Having faith and taking it one day at a time, it started to change and strengthen me.”

In regards to the process of getting ready for the sci-fi action film, she did extensive training to buff up. “Learning how to do the swords and the knives and boxing and riding a horse, I had never ridden a horse before,” Patton admitted. “But feeling the strength of overcoming each challenge helped me feel like a warrior, which Gerona [her character] is.”

It’s good to see the star bounce back from the bitter split. Not sure how compelled we are to see this video game adaptation, but we’re sure Patton has more projects in the work.